Episode 50: Are We Having Fun Yet?

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In which the trio attempts (and likely fails) to define “fun.”

  • It’s episode 50!
  • What is fun? Clowns?
  • “Fun” is really hard to define
  • Eddy has spoken about this and speaks on it here!
  • A healthy debate on win conditions
  • A bit on play style
  • When aren’t games “games,” we ask, and a bit on puzzles
  • Sometimes players change the game you’re playing
  • Mystery book digression
  • What we enjoy out of a game
  • Skyrim, somehow
  • Social elements of games
  • Fun vs. Engagement
  • OBLIGATORY WRESTLING
  • Matthew doesn’t know what roller derby is
  • Dixie explains roller derby badly
  • Diplomacy
  • Online roleplaying
  • LARPing
  • What do we find NOT fun?

Links:
A Theory of Fun: https://www.theoryoffun.com/
Eddy’s website: http://eddyfate.com/
Fiasco: https://bullypulpitgames.com/games/fiasco/
Dread: http://www.tiltingatwindmills.net/games/dread/
Gone Home: https://gonehome.game/
Dear Esther: http://www.thechineseroom.co.uk/games/dear-esther
Life is Strange: https://lifeisstrange.square-enix-games.com/en-us/games/life-is-strange
Myst: https://cyan.com/games/myst/
The 7th Guest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_7th_Guest
Yggdrasil: http://cubicle7.co.uk/yggdrasill-a-look-at-the-nine-worlds/
Doki Doki Literature Club: https://ddlc.moe/
Promethean: The Created: https://theonyxpath.com/category/worlds/chroniclesofdarkness/prometheanthecreated/
Wraith: The Oblivion: https://theonyxpath.com/category/worlds/classicworldofdarkness/wraiththeoblivion/
Horror on the Orient Express: https://www.chaosium.com/horror-on-the-orient-express-pdf/
Skyrim: https://elderscrolls.bethesda.net/en/skyrim
Diplomacy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomacy_(game)
The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2016/7/27/the-extraordinary-adventures-of-baron-munchausen/

3 thoughts on “Episode 50: Are We Having Fun Yet?”

  2. It was very interesting to hear you talk about puzzles in games. I love puzzles – which does influence how I play games.
    Shadowrun, for example – the “planning” phase is usually where I love spending time, on the puzzle of how to approach a run (including contingencies for when things inevitably go south).

    However, I feel I should share an amazing moment in a Mage: the Awakening convention game.
    After having run through ancient ruins, trying to stop some Seers running away with mystical artifacts (not just any Seers, either – these were members of the Secret Order of the Gate), we had made our way to the stronghold of a group of Mage-hating bastards.
    We infiltrate the place, find a big, cozy library, with a set of double doors leading out. There was also a series of dials, bearing Atlantean runes – props to the GM, he had actually made a physical set of props with these runes, which you could rotate until the right runes popped up. The symbols themselves were the runes for the Arcana, and the Practices – and you had to match them in the correct order…or so we thought.

    See, what no one actually did was try the double doors – we went straight to the puzzle, trying to solve it. After many minutes, we managed to figure it out, and input the “correct” combination – only for it to turn out that it was all a trap, specifically for mages. The room’s doors all locked, the books protected, and the room started filling up with sand or water (can’t remember right now).

    These were clever Mage-hating bastards, you see, because only a Mage would be able to solve the puzzle – and what does a Mage love more than solving puzzles or mysteries?

    Absolutely amazing game, and a very nice red herring in the form of a puzzle.

    Reply

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